Help in Zack's Shop Recovery after Flooding

Suzanne here, like many of us, I am looking for a way to help a good friend, blacksmith and sculptor Zack Noble. Zack and I have been thick as thieves since 1999, when we met at Penland School of Craft. Sitting here in Massachusetts, so far away from my Penland community and trying not to feel helpless, I thought I would start here.

As you know, the catastrophic flooding in Asheville has left many artists and craftspeople in terrible situations. While the good news is very good, Zack, Darrah, and the kids are all fine! Their house is also fine. However, Zack’s shop is in Asheville's River Arts District, on Depot Street which got hammered by the overflowing French Broad River. Happily, the shop is still there, and the equipment is still there. The bad news is that the shop was flooded--the river ran through up to about four feet high, and dumped contaminated mud over many of the horizontal surfaces, and completely covered the floor in about 2” of this mud.

Zack will be working for weeks removing the mud, removing and replacing 4' of drywall (and possibly insulation) around the shop and gallery perimeter, rebuilding the gallery furniture, pressure washing all the equipment, replacing filters, changing oils, getting back to some sense of normal, and eventually back to work. He will be paying his assistant to help with this work. While they’re doing all this, there is no income. My hope is to raise enough money to cover expenses for building and equipment repairs, pay Alex and other helpers, and recover a little of the income Zack would have been making had this not happened.

I believe in the power of our craft community. We can help in this small way to make this terrible situation that much better for Zack.